ORLANDO, Fla., January 28, 2002 - Cisco Systems, Inc., the worldwide leader in networking for the Internet, today announced at Lotusphere in Orlando, Fla., an alliance with IBM to support, develop and resell unified communications solutions. Expanding on their existing strategic alliance, Cisco and IBM will combine their respective strengths in technology leadership and infrastructure services to help customers quickly introduce advanced communications management solutions to improve employee productivity and responsiveness to customers.
The two companies have defined a two-phase plan, the first phase of which is already complete. In the first phase, the IBM x232 and x250 hardware platforms were qualified to support Cisco Unity for Microsoft Exchange. IBM Global Services has built a practice offering consultation and implementation support for customers deploying Cisco Unity for Microsoft Exchange, and the companies have entered into a development agreement to deliver a version of Cisco Unity for Lotus Domino.
In the second phase, already underway, Cisco will resell Cisco Unity on the IBM x232 and x250 hardware platforms and introduce the first production release of Cisco Unity for Lotus Domino. IBM Global Services will also build a Cisco Unity for Lotus Domino practice to support this new offering as the final part of this phase.
"More and more, enterprises are taking a closer look at network-based services and applications like unified communications to improve organizational productivity and drive down costs," stated Ken Bisconti, vice president of Channels and Alliances, Lotus Software, IBM Software Group. "In extending our strategic alliance to address these customer needs, Cisco and IBM are combining hardware, software and services to help customers quickly deploy and support the most advanced and reliable communications solutions on the market today."
"The early customer acceptance we've seen through our joint work on unified communications is significant - the IBM Global Services Cisco Unity for Microsoft Exchange practice is already one of our top customer delivery vehicles," said Kevin Chestnut, general manager of Cisco's Enterprise Communications Software Business Unit. "Together, Cisco and IBM are extending the reach and interoperability of Cisco Unity to bring its advanced communications management capabilities to a broader customer base while bringing enhanced support and services to our existing Cisco Unity groupware customers."
